SUNDAY, JANUARY 12 2024 - BAPTIZED IN FEAR
January 12, 2025
Deborah Laforet
“Baptized in Fear”
Let us pray. May the words from my lips and the meditations of my heart be guided by
your Spirit and be words of wisdom for this day. Amen.
This is a Sunday, when we usually read a story from one of gospels about the baptism of
Jesus. We usually hear about John the Baptist inviting people into the waters with one word,
“Repent!” He wanted people to open their eyes to what was happening around them and within
them. He wanted to them to become aware of their own souls and the corruption of those souls.
He wanted people to turn around, to change direction, to head in a new direction.
We would have read how Jesus came to John to be baptized and how John was humbled.
He felt unworthy to be the one to baptize Jesus, maybe because he didn’t feel his message fit
Jesus. The baptism of Jesus though does mark a turning point for Jesus. Our bibles don’t tell us
much about Jesus before this point. Yes, there are a couple of birth stories and one story from
when he was twelve, but we really know nothing of Jesus’ life before he began his ministry, but
maybe Jesus did feel John’s message of repentance was a fit for him. Maybe this baptism was a
sign of a new beginning for him, a time of turning and heading in a new direction.
On this Sunday after Epiphany, when we usually celebrate the baptism of Jesus, and hear
this story, I decided to look at the alternate reading from the Hebrew Scriptures, the one Rachel
read for us today, from Isaiah. We’re going to hear about baptism in a different way.
The word, baptize, can be used in different ways. Mostly it’s used for the ritual used in
churches, basically an initiation ritual into the Christian faith. Sometimes though the word is
used to describe an immersive experience. Some talk about being baptized in fire, baptized in
pain, baptized in tears. It’s an act that consumes and maybe cleanses.
In my readings this week, a phrase leapt out at me: “baptized in fear.” An interesting
phrase to think about on this Sunday when we celebrate the baptism of Jesus. What might it
mean to be baptized in fear? From what I read, to be baptized in fear is to forget everything in
the paralysis of the moment: our names, our heritage, our purpose, our resources. Does this feel
familiar at all, an experience you may have had? Let me offer a few examples.
Imagine someone who has just been told by their doctor that they’ve found a lump. Your
first thought is that awful word, Cancer. Then you might think about your mortality and then
your family and loved ones. Most people probably don’t even hear their doctor after this
announcement. They are consumed in their fear, which paralyzes them in the moment to only be
able to worry about the danger ahead.
Imagine there is this celebrity in another country, with very little political experience,
who gets elected to be that country’s president. This president-elect begins talking about 25%
tariffs on your country’s exports. He starts referring to your nation’s leader as a governor and
starts talking about your country becoming a part of his country - the 51st state. All hypothetical,
of course. You might scoff; you might dismiss these threats, but there also might be a part of you
that if feeling fearful. What can he do? What happens to the economy if these tariffs get put into
place? Will your country be forced to lose its sovereignty as a separate nation? Will you lose the
advantages that your country offers? The fear is small but it feels strong. It makes us question
our future, question our identity.
One more scenario, more specific to this faith community. Imagine you are part of a
church. You love this community and it has supported you for a number of years. You feel at
home in this place. Then you are told that there are financial struggles; every year there seems to
be a deficit. The community is getting smaller. Older ones are dying and younger ones are not
replacing them. Leadership is getting tired. You begin to wonder how much longer this
community can keep going. Some people are telling you that things need to change, but will that
change your community? Some people are saying that you may have to amalgamate with
another church, but will that mean the building you’ve called home will be sold? You’re
consumed by the fear of losing what you love, a place that feels sacred to you. The future is
unknown and unsure, which makes you want to dig in your heels and refuse anything that could
change what you love.
When fear gets a grip on us, it can be powerful and it can consume us. When we let fear
consume us, it affects how we think and it affects our actions. What I don’t want you to hear
today is that fear is a bad emotion. All emotions are a part of who we are, neither good nor bad.
We acknowledge them and we process them. What we don’t want is to have these powerful
emotions in the driver’s seat. We don’t want our fear to control our lives. The back seat is a
good place, letting us know it’s there, letting us know its needs, but not letting take the wheel.
To help us with that, to help us ground ourselves in the present, we surround ourselves
with our community, with people we love and who love us. We meditate, we practice
contemplation, grounding ourselves in the here and now, and connecting with the energy of the
universe that surrounds us. We also read scripture. We hear words like the ones Rachel read for
us from the 43rd chapter of Isaiah. From verses one and two:
“Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the seas, I will be with you,
when you pass over the rivers, you will not drown;
walk through fire, and you will not be singed;
walk through flames and you will not be burned.
From verses four and five:
You are precious in my sight, you are honoured and I love you.
I give people in exchange for you, whole nations in exchange for your life.
Have no fear, for I am with you.”
Instead of being baptized in our fear, we can be baptized in the love with which we are
surrounded, whether that be the love of people, animals, and creation, or the love of a divine
presence rooted in abundance.
Baptism is about being cleansed, and you can do this yourself. In the shower or in a bath,
imagine the fear, the pain, the hurt, the anxiety, the suffering being washed away, and then
imagine the warmth from the water holding you in love, surrounding you with compassion and
care, with an embrace that says you are not alone? “I have called you by name and you are
mine...I am with you.”
May you be baptized in the love of God. May Christ be an example and a model of that
love. May the Spirit surround you and fill you with the love that is so abundantly given. Thanks
be to God. Amen.
Isaiah 43:1-7
(Introduce yourself. - Do not move or tap microphone.)
The passage I’m reading today is taken from the part of the book of Isaiah that
attempts to offer assurance to a people in exile. I’m reading the first seven verses
from the 43rd chapter.
1 But now, Leah and Rachel and Jacob, hear the word of Yahweh,
the One who created you,
the One who fashioned you, O Israel:
Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the seas, I will be with you,
when you pass over the rivers, you will not drown;
walk through fire, and you will not be singed;
walk through flames and you will not be burned.
3 I am Yahweh, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your deliverer.
I give Egypt as your ransom for you,
Nubia and Seba in exchange for you.
4 You are precious in my sight,
you are honoured and I love you.
I give people in exchange for you,
whole nations in exchange for your life.
5 Have no fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your descendants from the east,
and gather them from the west.
6 To the north, I will say, “Give them up!”
and to the south, “Do not hold them back!
Bring my daughters and sons from afar,
return them from the ends of the earth—
7 everyone who is called by my Name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made!”
May the Spirit guide our understanding of this holy scripture.